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Six-storey buildings at Main and 33rd too high, residents say

Mary Ann Code, who lives at East 28th and John in Vancouver, has concerns about the proposed redevelopment of the Little Mountain site. Residents would like to see more social housing and the building heights reduced from the planned 12 storeys.

Photograph by: Arlen Redekop, PNG
, Vancouver Sun

Apartment buildings up to six storeys tall at the corner of 33rd and Main are too high for the neighbourhood, a community activist says.

Norm Dooley says his Riley Park South Cambie Visions Group will be at city hall on Wednesday when council considers a rezoning proposal for the site, which is adjacent to the already controversial Little Mountain site.

“We had hoped there would be a better transition into the community that’s facing on Main and on 33rd,” he said. “That’s an important part of our concerns.”

Dooley said residents are also concerned the city report doesn’t include recommendations on reducing traffic congestion from any proposed redevelopment.

The report recommends rezoning the southwest corner of 33rd and Main to allow for buildings up to six storeys or 19.8 (65 feet) in height. Dooley said buildings of up to three storeys would make a softer transition to the neighbourhood.

The corner is a hot spot in the community because it’s adjacent to the proposed redevelopment of the Little Mountain site by Holborn Properties, where there are plans for 12-storey buildings. A recent survey of residents in the neighbourhood showed almost 90 per cent were against plans to rezone Little Mountain to allow 12-storey buildings.

The report recommends the city adopt a rezoning policy for the 1½-block site that allows for buildings four to six storeys tall to “provide a transition in scale and height from the residential neighbourhood north of 33rd Avenue and the mixed use buildings along Main.”

The four-acre site now includes 33 single family homes, six two-storey apartment buildings and three duplexes.

In addition to the six-storey buildings, the proposed rezoning policy would also allow for row houses and townhouses, including stacked and courtyard buildings up to a height of 13.7 m (45 ft).

It also recommends at least 35 per cent of the units be family units, which would translate into 25 per cent two bedroom units and 10 per cent three bedroom units.

Depending on the density that’s finally approved, the combination of community amenity contributions and development cost levies could reach as much as $12.1 million for the row houses and taller apartments.

But that figure is less than the estimated cost of between $15 and $25 million to build 60 to 100 units of social housing on the adjacent Little Mountain site or elsewhere in the Riley Park South Cambie area, according to the report.

Holborn wants to redevelop the Little Mountain site into a high-density, mixed-use community. It is subject to rezoning, which would require public hearings.

Before buildings on Little Mountain were torn down in preparation for redevelopment, the social housing complex had 224 units. Last October, four families were spared eviction when an agreement was reached to allow Holborn to start building replacement social housing on site under the existing zoning.

Holborn has proposed to replace the 224 units of social housing and add another 10 units for aboriginal housing.

Mary Ann Code, who lives at East 28th and John in Vancouver, has concerns about the proposed redevelopment of the Little Mountain site. Residents would like to see more social housing and the building heights reduced from the planned 12 storeys.